'Planes' sequel doesn't hold up to adult hard questions

Four movies and several more short films into the world of "Cars" and "Planes," cynical adults will continue to ask hard questions.

When a "Planes: Fire & Rescue" character puts an AC/DC album on a record player, does this mean that there is an airplane version of the Australian band, or is the music left over from the now extinct/annihilated human race? Who lives in the skyscrapers we see in the film? Has anyone explained how the vehicles reproduce?

Children, who don't think about these things, are the clear target audience for "Planes: Fire & Rescue," an occasionally rousing but mostly just adequate sequel to last year's "Planes."

Disney has fortified its animation reputation in recent years with movies (from "Frankenweenie" to "Frozen" to the bulk of the Pixar catalog) that were clearly made by filmmakers trying to amuse themselves.

These offshoots from the DisneyToon Studios have a different kid-first vibe.

It's not a bad vibe.

The sequel quickly removes spunky hero Dusty Crophopper from his established past as a racing plane, and into the visually pleasing world of aerial firefighting. The isolated forest setting seems to be 75 percent inspired by Yosemite and 20 percent by Arches National Park in Utah, with a Yellowstone Park geyser thrown in for fun.

Much is made of Dusty's celebrity from the previous film, and the more humble/noble work of his new comrades.

Although there are once again no humans (Are they underground? In a "Battlestar Galactica"-style spaceship looking for a new home?!?), the movie serves as a fitting tribute to smokejumpers and other real life forest service workers.

"Planes: Fire & Rescue" is at its best during the frequent aerial firefighting scenes, which have a storybook feel, while maintaining a disaster movie-style momentum. The movie is rated PG, but other than a few scenes of planes-in-peril, it will play well with all but the most scare-prone children in the G crowd.

The "Planes" writing team comes up with another pop culture nod (with a voice acting cameo) as pleasing as the "Top Gun" interlude in the first film.

There are a few other lines that will elicit adult chuckles, many in a country bar scene. The "pickup truck" definitely delivers.

The rest of the dialogue is hit and miss, with too much sincerity and little attempt at nuance in the plot — which includes an over-the-top bureaucrat, and yet another mentor figure for Dusty with a mysterious past.

Coming from a studio that isn't afraid to release animated films that approach two hours, "Planes: Fire & Rescue" ends abruptly at 84 minutes (including an extra-long end-credits sequence that feels a bit like that term paper you wrote with a 14-point font and 2-inch margins to fool your professor).

Of course that might be a selling point to some parent chaperones. It's not a poor movie. But it's definitely a better movie for the kids.